Catalases

ABSTRACT

Catalase enzymes derived from bacteria from the genera Alcaligenes (Deleya) and Microscilla are disclosed. The enzymes are produced from native or recombinant host cells and can be utilized to destroy or detect hydrogen peroxide, e.g., in production of glyoxylic acid and in glucose sensors, and in processes where hydrogen peroxide is used as a bleaching or antibacterial agent, e.g. in contact lens cleaning, in bleaching steps in pulp and paper preparation and in the pasteurization of dairy products.

This application is a divisional of application U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/951,844, filed Oct. 16, 1997 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,074,860, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/674,887, filed on Jul. 3, 1996 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,939,300, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

This invention relates to newly identified polynucleotides, polypeptides encoded by such polynucleotides, the use of such polynucleotides and polypeptides, as well as the production and isolation of such polynucleotides and polypeptides. More particularly, the polynucleotides and polypeptides of the present invention have been putatively identified as catalases.

Generally, in processes where hydrogen peroxide is a by-product, catalases can be used to destroy or detect hydrogen peroxide, e.g., in production of glyoxylic acid and in glucose sensors. Also, in processes where hydrogen peroxide is used as a bleaching or antibacterial agent, catalases can be used to destroy residual hydrogen peroxide, e.g., in contact lens cleaning, in bleaching steps in pulp and paper preparation and in the pasteurization of dairy products. Further, such catalases can be used as catalysts for oxidation reactions, e.g., epoxidation and hydroxylation.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there are provided novel enzymes, as well as active fragments, analogs and derivatives thereof.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there are provided isolated nucleic acid molecules encoding the enzymes of the present invention including mRNAs, cDNAs, genomic DNAs as well as active analogs and fragments of such enzymes.

In accordance with yet a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process for producing such polypeptides by recombinant technique comprising culturing recombinant prokaryotic and/or eukaryotic host cells, containing a nucleic acid sequence of the present invention, under conditions promoting expression of said enzymes and subsequent recovery of said enzymes

In accordance with yet a further aspect of the present invention, there are also provided nucleic acid probes comprising nucleic acid molecules of sufficient length to specifically hybridize to a nucleic acid sequence of the present invention.

In accordance with yet a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process for utilizing such enzymes, or polynucleotides encoding such enzymes, for in vitro purposes related to scientific research, for example, to generate probes for identifying similar sequences which might encode similar enzymes from other organisms by using certain regions, i.e., conserved sequence regions, of the nucleotide sequence.

In accordance with yet a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided antibodies to such catalases. These antibodies are as probes to screen libraries from these or other organisms for members of the libraries which could have the same catalase activity or a cross reactive activity.

These and other aspects of the present invention should be apparent to those skilled in the art from the teachings herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following drawings are illustrative of an embodiment of the invention and are not meant to limit the scope of the invention as encompassed by the claims.

FIGS. 1A-1D show the full-length DNA sequence (SEQ ID NO: 5)and the corresponding deduced amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 6) for Alcaligenes (Deleya) aquamarinus Catalase—64CA2.

FIGS 2A-2D show the full-length DNA sequence (SEQ ID NO: 7) and the corresponding deduced amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 8) for Microscilla furvescens Catalase 53CA1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In order to facilitate understanding of the following description and examples which follow certain frequently occurring methods and/or terms will be described.

The term “isolated” means altered “by the hand of man” from its natural state; i.e., if it occurs in nature, it has been changed or removed from its original environment, or both. For example, a naturally occurring polynucleotide or a polypeptide naturally present in a living animal in its natural state is not “isolated”, but the same polynucleotide or polypeptide separated from the coexisting materials of its natural state is “isolated”, as the term is employed herein. For example, with respect to polynucleotides, the term isolated means that it is separated from the nucleic acid and cell in which it naturally occurs.

As part of or following isolation, such polynucleotides can be joined to other polynucleotides, such as DNAs, for mutagenesis, to form fusion proteins, and for propagation or expression in a host, for instance. The isolated polynucleotides, alone or joined to other polynucleotides such as vectors, can be introduced into host cells, in culture or in whole organisms. Introduced into host cells in culture or in whole organisms, such polynucleotides still would be isolated, as the term is used herein, because they would not be in their naturally occurring form or environment. Similarly, the polynucleotides and polypeptides may occur in a composition, such as a media formulation (solutions for introduction of polynucleotides or polypeptides, for example, into cells or compositions or solutions for chemical or enzymatic reactions which are not naturally occurring compositions) and, therein remain isolated polynucleotides or polypeptides within the meaning of that term as it is employed herein.

The term “ligation” refers to the process of forming phosphodiester bonds between two or more polynucleotides, which most often are double stranded DNAs. Techniques for ligation are well known to the art and protocols for ligation are described in standard laboratory manuals and references, such as, for instance, Sambrook et al., MOLECULAR CLONING, A LABORATORY MANUAL, 2nd Ed.; Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. (1989).

The term “gene” means the segment of DNA involved in 4 producing a polypeptide chain; it includes regions preceding and following the coding region (leader and trailer) as well as intervening sequences (introns) between individual coding segments (exons).

A coding sequence is “operably linked to” another coding sequence when RNA polymerase will transcribe the two coding sequences into a single mRNA, which is then translated into a single polypeptide having amino acids derived from both coding sequences. The coding sequences need not be contiguous to one another so long as the expressed sequences ultimately process to produce the desired protein.

“Recombinant” enzymes refer to enzymes produced by recombinant DNA techniques; i.e., produced from cells transformed by an exogenous DNA construct encoding the desired enzyme. “Synthetic” enzymes are those prepared by chemical synthesis.

A DNA “coding sequence of” or a “nucleotide sequence encoding” a particular enzyme, is a DNA sequence which is transcribed and translated into an enzyme when placed under the control of appropriate regulatory sequences.

“Plasmids” are designated by a lower case “p” preceded and/or followed by capital letters and/or numbers. The starting plasmids herein are either commercially available, publicly available on an unrestricted basis, or can be constructed from available plasmids in accord with published procedures. In addition, equivalent plasmids to those described are known in the art and will be apparent to the ordinarily skilled artisan.

“Digestion” of DNA refers to catalytic cleavage of the DNA with a restriction enzyme that acts only at certain sequences in the DNA. The various restriction enzymes used herein are commercially available and their reaction conditions cofactors and other requirements were used as would be known to the ordinarily skilled artisan. For analytical purposes, typically 1 μg of plasmid or DNA fragment is used with about 2 units of enzyme in about 20 μl of buffer solution. For the purpose of isolating DNA fragments for plasmid construction, typically 5 to 50 μg of DNA are digested with 20 to 250 units of enzyme in a larger volume. Appropriate buffers and substrate amounts for particular restriction enzymes are specified by the manufacturer. Incubation times of about 1 hour at 37° C. are ordinarily used, but may vary in accordance with the supplier's instructions. After digestion the reaction is electrophoresed directly on a polyacrylamide gel to isolate the desired fragment.

Size separation of the cleaved fragments is performed using 8 percent polyacrylamide gel described by Goeddel et al., Nucleic Acids Res., 8:4057 (1980).

“Oligonucleotides” refers to either a single stranded polydeoxynucleotide or two complementary polydeoxynucleotide strands which may be chemically synthesized. Such synthetic oligonucleotides have no 5′ phosphate and thus will not ligate to another oligonucleotide without adding a phosphate with an ATP in the presence of a kinase. A synthetic oligonucleotide will ligate to a fragment that has not been dephosphorylated.

“Ligation” refers to the process of forming phosphodiester bonds between two double stranded nucleic acid fragments (Maniatis, T., et al., Id., p. 146). Unless otherwise provided, ligation may be accomplished using known buffers and conditions with 10 units of T4 DNA ligase (“ligase”) per 0.5 μg of approximately equimolar amounts of the DNA fragments to be ligated.

Unless otherwise stated, transformation was performed as described in Sambrook and Maniatis, Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1989.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there are provided isolated nucleic acids (polynucleotides) which encode for the mature enzyme having the deduced amino acid sequence of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO: 6).

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there are provided isolated nucleic acids (polynucleotides) which encode for the mature enzyme having the deduced amino acid sequence of FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO: 9).

The polynucleotides of this invention were originally recovered from a genomic gene library derived from two sources. The first, Alcaligenes (Delaya) aquanarinus, is a β-Proteobacteria. It is a gram-negative rod that grows optimally at 26° C. and pH 7.2. The second, Microscilla furvescens, is a Cytophagales (Bacteria) isolated from Samoa. It is a gram-negative rod with gliding motility that grows optimally at 30° C. and pH 7.0.

With respect to Alcaligenes (Delaya) aquamarinus, the protein with the closest amino acid sequence identity of which the inventors are currently aware is the Microscilla furvescens catalase (59.5% protein identity; 60% DNA identity). The next closest is a Mycobacterium tuberculosis catalase (KatG), with a 54% protein identity.

With respect to Microscilla furvescens, the protein with closest amino acid sequence identity of which the inventors are currently aware is catalase I of Bacillus stearothermophilus, which has a 69% amino acid identity.

Accordingly, the polynucleotides and enzymes encoded thereby are identified by the organism from which they were isolated. Such are sometimes referred to below as “64CA2” (FIG. 1 and SEQ ID NOS: 5 and 6) and “53CA1” (FIG. 2 and SEQ ID NOS: 7 and 8).

One means for isolating the nucleic acid molecules encoding the enzymes of the present invention is to probe a gene library with a natural or artificially designed probe using art recognized procedures (see, for example: Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, Ausubel F. M. et al. (EDS.) Green Publishing Company Assoc. and John Wiley Interscience, New York. 1989, 1992). It is appreciated by one skilled in the art that the polynucleotides of (SEQ ID NOS: 5 and 7), or fragments thereof (comprising at least 12 contiguous nucleotides), are particularly useful probes. Other partjcularly,useful probes for this purpose are hybridizable fragments of the sequences of (SEQ ID NOS: 5 and 7) (i.e., comprising at least 12 contiguous nucleotides).

With respect to nucleic acid sequences which hybridize to specific nucleic acid sequences disclosed herein, hybridization may be carried out under conditions of reduced stringency, medium stringency or even stringent conditions. As an example of oligonucleotide hybridization, a polymer membrane containing immobilized denatured nucleic acids is first prehybridized for 30 minutes at 45° C. in a solution consisting of 0.9 M NaCl, 50 mM NaH₂PO₄, pH 7.0, 5.0 mM Na₂EDTA, 0.5% SDS, 10OX Denhardt's, and 0.5 mg/mL polyriboadenylic acid. Approximately 2×10⁷ cpm (specific activity 4-9×10⁸ cpm/ug) of ³²P end-labeled oligonucleotide probe are then added to the solution. After 12-16 hours of incubation, the membrane is washed for 30 minutes at room temperature in 1× SET (150 mM NaCl, 20 mM Tris hydrochloride, pH 7.8, 1 mM Na₂EDTA) containing 0.5% SDS, followed by a 30 minute wash in fresh 1× SET at (Tm less 10° C.) for the oligo-nucleotide probe. The membrane is then exposed to auto-radiographic film for detection of hybridization signals.

Stringent condition means hybridization will occur only if there is at least 90% identity, preferably at least 95% identity and most preferably at least 97% identity between the sequences. Further, it is understood that a section of a 100 bps sequence that is 95 bps in length has 95% identity with the 1090 bps sequence from which it is obtained. See J. Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, 2d Ed., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (1989) which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Also, it is understood that a fragment of a 100 bps sequence that is 95 bps in length has 95% identity with the 100 bps sequence from which it is obtained.

As used herein, a first DNA (RNA) sequence is at least 70% and preferably at least 80% identical to another DNA (RNA) sequence if there is at least 70% and preferably at least a 80% or 90% identity, respectively, between the bases of the first sequence and the bases of the another sequence, when properly aligned with each other, for example when aligned by BLASTN.

The present invention relates to polynucleotides which differ from the reference polynucleotide such that the differences are silent, for example, the amino acid sequence encoded by the polynucleotides is the same. The present invention also relates to nucleotide changes which result in amino acid substitutions, additions, deletions, fusions and truncations in the polypeptide encoded by the reference polynucleotide. In a preferred aspect of the invention these polypeptides retain the same biological action as the polypeptide encoded by the reference polynucleotide.

The polynucleotides of this invention were recovered from genomic gene libraries from the organisms identified above. Gene libraries were generated from a Lambda ZAP II cloning vector (Stratagene Cloning Systems). Mass excisions were performed on these libraries to generate libraries in the pBluescript phagemid. Libraries were generated and excisions were performed according to the protocols/methods hereinafter described.

The polynucleotides of the present invention may be in the form of RNA or DNA, which DNA includes cDNA, genomic DNA, and synthetic DNA. The DNA may be double-stranded or single-stranded, and if single stranded may be the coding strand or non-coding (anti-sense) strand. The coding sequences which encodes the mature enzymes may be identical to the coding sequences shown in FIGS. 1-2 (SEQ ID NOS: 5 and 7) or may be a different coding sequence which coding sequence, as a result of the redundancy or degeneracy of the genetic code, encodes the same mature enzymes as the DNA of FIGS. 1-2 (SEQ ID NOS: 6 & 8).

The polynucleotide which encodes for the mature enzyme of FIGS. 1-2 (SEQ ID NOS: 6 and 8) may include, but is not limited to: only the coding sequence for the mature enzyme; the coding sequence for the mature enzyme and additional coding sequence such as a leader sequence or a proprotein sequence; the coding sequence for the mature enzyme (and optionally additional coding sequence) and non-coding sequence, such as introns or non-coding sequence 5′ and/or 3′ of the coding sequence for the mature enzyme.

Thus, the term “polynucleotide encoding an enzyme (protein)” encompasses a polynucleotide which includes only coding sequence for the enzyme as well as a polynucleotide which includes additional coding and/or non-coding sequence.

The present invention further relates to variants of the hereinabove described polynucleotides which encode for fragments, analogs and derivatives of the enzymes having the deduced amino acid sequences of FIGS. 1-2 (SEQ ID NOS: 6 and 8). The variant of the polynucleotide may be a naturally occurring allelic variant of the polynucleotide or a non-naturally occurring variant of the polynucleotide.

Thus, the present invention includes polynucleotides encoding the same mature enzymes as shown in FIGS. 1-2 (SEQ ID NOS: 6 and 8) as well as variants of such polynucleotides which variants encode for a fragment, derivative or analog of the enzymes of FIGS. 1-2 (SEQ ID NOS: 6 and 8). Such nucleotide variants include deletion variants, substitution variants and addition or insertion variants.

As hereinabove indicated, the polynucleotides may have a coding sequence which is a naturally occuring allelic variant of the coding sequences shown in FIGS. 1-2 (SEQ ID NOS: 5 and 7). As known in the art, an allelic variant is an alternate form of a polynucleotide sequence which may have a substitution, deletion or addition of one or more nucleotides, which does not substantially alter the function of the encoded enzyme. Also, using directed and other evolution strategies, one may make very minor changes in DNA sequence which can result in major changes in function.

Fragments of the full length gene of the present invention may be used as hybridization probes for a cDNA or a genomic library to isolate the full length DNA and to isolate other DNAs which have a high sequence similarity to the gene or similar biological activity. Probes of this type preferably have at least 10, preferably at least 15, and even more preferably at least 30 bases and may contain, for example, at least 50 or more bases. In fact, probes of this type having at least up to 150 bases or greater may be preferably utilized. The probe may also be used to identify a DNA clone corresponding to a full length transcript and a genomic clone or clones that contain the complete gene including regulatory and promotor regions, exons and introns. An example of a screen comprises isolating the coding region of the gene by using the known DNA sequence to synthesize an oligonucleotide probe. Labeled oligonucleotides having a sequence complementary or identical to that of the gene or portion of the gene sequences of the present invention are used to screen a library of genomic DNA to determine which members of the library the probe hybridizes to.

It is also appreciated that such probes can be and are preferably labeled with an analytically detectable reagent to facilitate identification of the probe. Useful reagents include but are not limited to radioactivity, fluorescent dyes or enzymes capable of catalyzing the formation of a detectable product. The probes are thus useful to isolate complementary copies of DNA from other sources or to screen such sources for related sequences.

The present invention further relates to polynucleotides which hybridize to the hereinabove-described sequences if there is at least 70%, preferably at least 90%, and more preferably at least 95% identity between the sequences. (As indicated above, 70% identity would include within such definition a 70 bps fragment taken from a 100 bp polynucleotide, for example.) The present invention particularly relates to polynucleotides which hybridize under stringent conditions to the hereinabove-described polynucleotides. As herein used, the term “stringent conditions” means hybridization will occur only if there is at least 95% and preferably at least 97% identity between the sequences. The polynucleotides which hybridize to the hereinabove described polynucleotides in a preferred embodiment encode enzymes which either retain substantially the same biological function or activity as the mature enzyme encoded by the DNA of FIGS. 1-2 (SEQ ID NOS: 5 and 7). In referring to identity in the case of hybridization, as known in the art, such identity refers to the complementarity of two polynucleotide segments.

Alternatively, the polynucleotide may have at least 15 bases, preferably at least 30 bases, and more preferably at least 50 bases which hybridize to any part of a polynucleotide of the present invention and which has an identity thereto, as hereinabove described, and which may or may not retain activ polynucleotides may be employed as probes for the polynucleotides of (SEQ ID NOS: 5 and 7), for example, for recovery of the polynucleotide or as a diagnostic probe or as a PCR primer.

Thus, the present invention is directed to polynucleotides having at least a 70% identity, preferably at least 90% identity and more preferably at least a 95% identity to a polynucleotide which encodes the enzymes of (SEQ ID NOS: 6 and 8) as well as fragments thereof, which fragments have at least 15 bases, preferably at least 30 bases, more preferably at least 50 bases and most preferably fragments having up to at least 150 bases or greater, which fragments are at least 90% identical, preferably at least 95% identical and most preferably at least 97% identical to any portion of a polynucleotide of the present invention.

The terms “fragment,” “derivative” and “analog” when referring to the enzymes of FIGS. 1-2 (SEQ ID NOS: 6and 8) means enzymes which retain essentially the same biological function or activity as such enzymes. Thus, an analog includes a proprotein which can be activated by cleavage of the proprotein portion to produce an active mature enzyme.

The enzymes of the present invention may be a recombinant enzyme, a natural enzyme or a synthetic enzyme, preferably a recombinant enzyme.

The fragment derivative or analog of the enzymes of FIGS. 1-2 (SEQ ID NOS: 6 and 8) may be (i) one in which one or more of the amino acid residues are substituted with a conserved or non-conserved amino acid residue (preferably a conserved amino acid residue) and such substituted amino acid residue may or may not be one encoded by the genetic code, or (ii) one in which one or more of the amino acid residues includes a substituent group, or (iii) one in which the mature enzyme is fused with another compound, such as a compound to increase the half-life of the enzyme (for example, polyethylene glycol), or (iv) one in which the additional amino acids are fused to the mature enzyme, such as a leader or secretory sequence or a sequence which is employed for purification of the mature enzyme or a proprotein sequence. Such fragments, derivatives and analogs are deemed to be within the scope of those skilled in the art from the teachings herein.

The enzymes and polynucleotides of the present invention are preferably provided in an isolated form, and preferably are purified to homogeneity.

The present invention also relates to vectors which include polynucleotides of the present invention, host cells which are genetically engineered with vectors of the invention and the production of enzymes of the invention by recombinant techniques.

Host cells are genetically engineered (transduced or transformed or transfected) with the vectors of this invention which may be, for example, a cloning vector such as an expression vector. The vector may be, for example, in the form of a plasmid, a phage, etc. The engineered host cells can be cultured in conventional nutrient media modified as appropriate for activating promoters, selecting transformants or amplifying the genes of the present invention. The culture conditions, such as temperature, pH and the like, are those previously used with the host cell selected for expression, and will be apparent to the ordinarily skilled artisan.

The polynucleotides of the present invention may be employed for producing enzymes by recombinant techniques. Thus, for example, the polynucleotide may be included in any one of a variety of expression vectors for expressing an enzyme. Such vectors include chromosomal, nonchromosomal and synthetic DNA sequences, e.g., derivatives of SV40; bacterial plasmids; phage DNA; baculovirus; yeast plasmids; vectors derived from combinations of plasmids and phage DNA, viral DNA such as vaccinia, adenovirus, fowl pox virus, and pseudorabies. However, any other vector may be used as long as it is replicable and viable in the host.

The appropriate DNA sequence may be inserted into the vector by a variety of procedures. In general, the DNA sequence is inserted into an appropriate restriction endonuclease site(s) by procedures known in the art. Such procedures and others are deemed to be within the scope of those skilled in the art.

The DNA sequence in the expression vector is operatively linked to an appropriate expression control sequence(s) (promoter) to direct mRNA synthesis. As representative examples of such promoters, there may be mentioned: LTR or SV40 promoter, the E. coli. lac or trp, the phage lambda P_(L) promoter and other promoters known to control expression of genes in prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells or their viruses. The expression vector also contains a ribosome binding site for translation initiation and a transcription terminator. The vector may also include appropriate sequences for amplifying expression.

In addition, the expression vectors preferably contain one or more selectable marker genes to provide a phenotypic trait for selection of transformed host cells such as dihydrofolate reductase or neomycin resistance for eukaryotic cell culture, or such as tetracycline or ampicillin resistance in E. coli.

The vector containing the appropriate DNA sequence as hereinabove described, as well as an appropriate promoter or control sequence, may be employed to transform an appropriate host to permit the host to express the protein.

As representative examples of appropriate hosts, there may be mentioned: bacterial cells, such as E. coli, Streptomyces, Bacillus subtilis; fungal cells, such as yeast; insect cells such as Drosophila S2 and Spodoptera Sf9; animal cells such as CHO, COS or Bowes melanoma; adenoviruses; plant cells, etc. The selection of an appropriate host is deemed to be within the scope of those skilled in the art from the teachings herein.

More particularly, the present invention also includes recombinant constructs comprising one or more of the sequences as broadly described above. The constructs comprise a vector, such as a plasmid or viral vector, into which a sequence of the invention has been inserted, in a forward or reverse orientation. In a preferred aspect of this embodiment, the construct further comprises regulatory sequences, including, for example, a promoter, operably linked to the sequence. Large numbers of suitable vectors and promoters are known to those of skill in the art, and are commercially available. The following vectors are provided by way of example; Bacterial: pQE70, pQE60, pQE-9 (Qiagen), pBluescript II KS(Stratagene), ptrc99a, pKK223-3, pDR540, pRIT2T (Pharmacia); Eukaryotic: pXT1, pSG5 (Stratagene) pSVK3, pBPV, pMSG, pSVL SV40 (Pharmacia). However, any other plasmid or vector may be used as long as they are replicable and viable in the host.

Promoter regions can be selected from any desired gene using CAT (chloramphenicol transferase) vectors or other vectors with selectable markers. Two appropriate vectors are pKK232-8 and pCM7. Particular named bacterial promoters include lacI, lacZ, T3, T7, gpt, lambda P_(R), P_(L) and trp. Eukaryotic promoters include CMV immediate early, HSV thymidine kinase, early and late SV40, LTRs from retrovirus, and mouse metallothionein-I. Selection of the appropriate vector and promoter is well within the level of ordinary skill in the art.

In a further embodiment, the present invention relates to host cells containing the above-described constructs. The host cell can be a higher eukaryotic cell, such as a mammalian cell, or a lower eukaryotic cell, such as a yeast cell, or the host cell can be a prokaryotic cell, such as a bacterial cell. Introduction of the construct into the host cell can be effected by calcium phosphate transfection, DEAE-Dextran mediated transfection, or electroporation (Davis, L., Dibner, M., Battey, I., Basic Methods in Molecular Biology, (1986)).

The constructs in host cells can be used in a conventional manner to produce the gene product encoded by the recombinant sequence. Alternatively, the enzymes of the invention can be synthetically produced by conventional peptide synthesizers.

Mature proteins can be expressed in mammalian cells, yeast, bacteria, or other cells under the control of appropriate promoters. Cell-free translation systems can also be employed to produce such proteins using RNAs derived from the DNA constructs of the present invention. Appropriate cloning and expression vectors for use with prokaryotic and eukaryotic hosts are described by Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Second Edition, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., (1989), the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

Transcription of the DNA encoding the enzymes of the present invention by higher eukaryotes is increased by inserting an enhancer sequence into the vector. Enhancers are cis-acting elements of DNA, usually about from 10 to 300 bp that act on a promoter to increase its transcription. Examples include the SV40 enhancer on the late side of the replication origin bp 100 to 270, a cytomegalovirus early promoter enhancer, the polyoma enhancer on the late side of the replication origin, and adenovirus enhancers.

Generally, recombinant expression vectors will include origins of replication and selectable markers permitting transformation of the host cell, e.g., the ampicillin resistance gene of E. coli and S. cerevisiae TRP1 gene, and a promoter derived from a highly-expressed gene to direct transcription of a downstream structural sequence. Such promoters can be derived from operons encoding glycolytic enzymes such as β-phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK), α-factor, acid phosphatase, or heat shock proteins, among others. The heterologous structural sequence is assembled in appropriate phase with translation initiation and termination sequences, and preferably, a leader sequence capable of directing secretion of translated enzyme. Optionally, the heterologous sequence can encode a fusion enzyme including an N-terminal identification peptide imparting desired characteristics, e.g., stabilization or simplified purification of expressed recombinant product.

Useful expression vectors for bacterial use are constructed by inserting a structural DNA sequence encoding a desired protein together with suitable translation initiation and termination signals in operable reading phase with a functional promoter. The vector will comprise one or more phenotypic selectable markers and an origin of replication to ensure maintenance of the vector and to, if desirable, provide amplification within the host. Suitable prokaryotic hosts for transformation include E. coli, Bacillus subtilis, Salmonella typhimurium and various species within the genera Pseudomonas, Streptomyces, and Staphylococcus, although others may also be employed as a matter of choice.

As a representative but nonlimiting example, useful expression vectors for bacterial use can comprise a selectable marker and bacterial origin of replication derived from commercially available plasmids comprising genetic elements of the well known cloning vector pBR322 (ATCC 37017). Such commercial vectors include, for example, pKK223-3 (Pharmacia Fine Chemicals, Uppsala, Sweden) and pGEMI (Promega Biotec, Madison, Wis., USA). These pBR322 “backbone” sections are combined with an appropriate promoter and the structural sequence to be expressed.

Following transformation of a suitable host strain and growth of the host strain to an appropriate cell density, the selected promoter is induced by appropriate means (e.g., temperature shift or chemical induction) and cells are cultured for an additional period.

Cells are typically harvested by centrifugation, disrupted by physical or chemical means, and the resulting crude extract retained for further purification.

Microbial cells employed in expression of proteins can be disrupted by any convenient method, including freeze-thaw cycling, sonication, mechanical disruption, or use of cell lysing agents, such methods are well known to those skilled in the art.

Various mammalian cell culture systems can also be employed to express recombinant protein. Examples of mammalian expression systems include the COS-7 lines of monkey kidney fibroblasts, described by Gluzman, Cell, 23:175 (1981), and other cell lines capable of expressing a compatible vector, for example, the C127, 3T3, CHO, HeLa and BHK cell lines. Mammalian expression vectors will comprise an origin of replication, a suitable promoter and enhancer, and also any necessary ribosome binding sites, polyadenylation site, splice donor and acceptor sites, transcriptional termination sequences, and 5′ flanking nontranscribed sequences. DNA sequences derived from the SV40 splice, and polyadenylation sites may be used to provide the required nontranscribed genetic elements.

The enzyme can be recovered and purified from recombinant cell cultures by methods including ammonium sulfate or ethanol precipitation, acid extraction, anion or cation exchange chromatography, phosphocellulose chromatography, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, affinity chromatography, hydroxylapatite chromatography and lectin chromatography. Protein refolding steps can be used, as necessary, in completing configuration of the mature protein. Finally, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) can be employed for final purification steps.

The enzymes of the present invention may be a naturally purified product, or a product of chemical synthetic procedures, or produced by recombinant techniques from a prokaryotic or eukaryotic host (for example, by bacterial, yeast, higher plant, insect and mammalian cells in culture). Depending upon the host employed in a recombinant production procedure, the enzymes of the present invention may be glycosylated or may be non-glycosylated. Enzymes of the invention may or may not also include an initial methionine amino acid residue.

Antibodies generated against the enzymes corresponding to a sequence of the present invention can be obtained by direct injection of the enzymes into an animal or by administering the enzymes to an animal, preferably a nonhuman. The antibody so obtained will then bind the enzymes itself. In this manner, even a sequence encoding only a fragment of the enzymes can be used to generate antibodies binding the whole native enzymes. Such antibodies can then be used to isolate the enzyme from cells expressing that enzyme.

For preparation of monoclonal antibodies, any technique which provides antibodies produced by continuous cell line cultures can be used. Examples include the hybridoma technique (Kohler and Milstein, Nature, 256:495-497, 1975), the trioma technique, the human B-cell hybridoma technique (Kozbor et al., Immunology Today 4:72, 1983), and the EBV-hybridoma technique to produce human monoclonal antibodies (Cole et al., in Monoclonal Antibodies and Cancer Therapy, Alan R. Liss, Inc., pp. 77-96, 1985).

Techniques described for the production of single chain antibodies (U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,778) can be adapted to produce single chain antibodies to immunogenic enzyme products of this invention. Also, transgenic mice may be used to express humanized antibodies to immunogenic enzyme products of this invention.

Antibodies generated against an enzyme of the present invention may be used in screening for similar enzymes from other organisms and samples. Such screening techniques are known in the art, for example, one such screening assay is described in Sambrook and Maniatis, Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual (2d Ed.), vol. 2:Section 8.49, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1989, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The present invention will be further described with reference to the following examples; however, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to such examples. All parts or amounts, unless otherwise specified, are by weight.

EXAMPLE 1 Production of the Expression Gene Bank

An E. coli catalase negative host strain CAT500 was infected with a phage solution containing sheared pieces of DNA from Alcaligenes (Deleya) aquamanrinus in pBluescript plasmid and plated on agar containing LB with ampicillin (100 μg/mL), methicillin (80 μg/mL) and kanamycin (100 μg/mL) according to the method of Hay and Short (Hay, B. and Short, J., J. Strategies, 5:16, 1992). The resulting colonies were picked with sterile toothpicks and used to singly inoculate each of the wells of 96-well microtiter plates. The wells contained 250 μL of SOB media with 100 μg/mL ampicillin, 80 μg/mL methicillin, and (SOB Amp/Meth/Kan). The cells were grown overnight at 37° C. without shaking. This constituted generation of the “SourceGeneBank”; each well of the Source GeneBank thus contained a stock culture of E. coli cells, each of which contained a pBluescript plasmid with a unique DNA insert. Same protocol was adapted for screening catalase from Microscilla furvescens.

EXAMPLE 2 Screening for Catalase Activity

The plates of the Source GeneBank were used to multiply inoculate a single plate (the “Condensed Plate”) containing in each well 200 μL of SOB Amp/Meth/Kan. This step was performed using the High Density Replicating Tool (HDRT) of the Beckman Biomek with a 1% bleach, water, isopropanol, air-dry sterilization cycle in between each inoculation. Each well of the Condensed Plate thus contained 4 different pBluescript clones from each of the source library plates. Nine such condensed plates were prepared and grown for 16 h at 37° C.

One hundred (100) μL of the overnight culture was transferred to the white polyfiltronic assay plates containing 100 μL Hepes/well. A 0.03% solution of hydrogen peroxide was made in 5% Triton and 20 μL of this solution was added to each well. The plates were incubated at room temperature for one hour. After an hour, 50 μL of 120 mM 3-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-propionic acid and 1 unit of horseradish peroxidase were added to each well and the plates were incubated at room temperature for 1 hour. To quench the reaction, 50 μL of 1 M Tris-base was added to each well. The wells were excited on a fluorometer at 320 nm and read at 404 nm. A low value signified a positive catalase hit.

EXAMPLE 3 Isolation and Purification of the Active Clone

In order to isolate the individual clone which carried the activity, the Source GeneBank plates were thawed and the individual wells used to singly inoculate a new plate containing SOB Amp/Meth/Kan. As above the plate was incubated at 37° C. to grow the cells, and assayed for activity as described above. Once the active well from the source plate was identified, the cells from the source plate were streaked on agar with LB/Amp/Meth/Kan and grown overnight at 37° C. to obtain single colonies. Eight single colonies were picked with a sterile toothpick and used to singly inoculate the wells of a 96-well microtiter plate. The wells contained 250 μL of SOB Amp/Meth/Kan. The cells were grown overnight at 37° C. without shaking. A 100 μL aliquot was removed from each well and assayed as indicated above. The most active clone was identified and the remaining 150 μL of culture was used to streak an agar plate with LB/Amp/Meth/Kan. Eight single colonies were picked, grown and assayed as above. The most active clone was used to inoculate 3 mL cultures of LB/Amp/Meth/Kan, which were grown overnight. The plasmid DNA was isolated from the cultures and utilized for sequencing.

EXAMPLE 4 Expression of Catalases

DNA encoding the enzymes of the present invention, (SEQ ID NOS: 6 and 8), were initially amplified from a pBluescript vector containing the DNA by the PCR technique using the primers noted herein. The amplified sequences were then inserted into the respective pQE vector listed beneath the primer sequences, and the enzyme was expressed according to the protocols set forth herein. The 5′ and 3′ oligonucleotide primer sequences used for subcloning and vectors for the respective genes are as follows:

Alcaligenes (Deleya) aquamarinus catalse: (pQET vector) 5′ Primer CCGAGAATTCATTAAAGAGGAGAAATTAACTATGAATAACGCATCCGCTGAC EcoRI (SEQ ID NO: 1) 3′ Primer CGGAAAGCITTTACGACGCGACGTCGAAACG HindIII (SEQ ID NO: 2)

Microscilla furvescens catalase: (pQET vector) 5′ Primer CCGAGAATTCATTAAAGAGGAGAAATTAACTATGGAAAATCACAAACACTCA EcoRI (SEQ ID NO: 3) 3′ Primer CGAAGGTACCTTATTTCAGATCAAACCGGTC KpnI (SEQ ID NO: 4)

The restriction enzyme sites indicated correspond to the restriction enzyme sites on the bacterial expression vector indicated for the respective gene (Qiagen, Inc. Chatsworth, Calif.). The pQET vector encodes antibiotic resistance (Amp^(r)), a bacterial origin of replication (ori), an IPITG-regulatable promoter operator (P/O), a ribosome binding site (RBS), a 6-His tag and restriction enzyme sites.

The pQET vector was digested with the restriction enzymes indicated. The amplified sequences were ligated into the respective pQET vector and inserted in frame with the sequence encoding for the RBS. The native stop codon was incorporated so the genes were not fused to the His tag of the vector. The ligation mixture was then used to transform the E. coli strain UM255/pREP4 (Qiagen, Inc.) by electroporation. UM255/pREP4 contains multiple copies of the plasmid pREP4, which expresses the lad repressor and also confers kanamycin resistance (Kan^(r)). Transformants were identified by their ability to grow on LB plates and ampicillin/kanamycin resistant colonies were selected. Plasmid DNA was isolated and confirmed by restriction analysis. Clones containing the desired constructs were grown overnight (O/N) in liquid culture in LB media supplemented with both Amp (100 ug/ml) and Kan (25 ug/ml). The O/N culture was used to inoculate a large culture at a ratio of 1:100 to 1:250. The cells were grown to an optical density 600 (O.D.⁶⁰⁰) of between 0.4 and 0.6. IPTG (“Isopropyl-B-D-thiogalacto pyranoside”) was then added to a final concentration of 1 mM. IPTG induces by inactivating the lacI repressor, clearing the P/O leading to increased gene expression. Cells were grown an extra 3 to 4 hours. Cells were then harvested by centrifugation. The primer sequences set out above may also be employed to isolate the target gene from the deposited material by hybridization techniques described above.

Cited Literature

1) U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,813, Aug. 8, 1995, Production of glyoxylic acid with glycolate oxidase and catalase immobilized on oxirane acrylic beads, Anton, D. L., Wilmington, Del., DiCosimo, R., Wilmington, Del., Gavagan, J. E., Wilmington, Del.

2) U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,732, Nov. 1, 1994, Production of Aspergillus niger catalase-R, Berka, R. M., San Mateo, Calif., Fowler, T., Redwood City, Calif., Rey, M. W., San Mateo, Calif.

3) U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,686, Jul. 17, 1984, Glucose oxidation with immobilized glucose oxidase-catalase, Hartmeier, W., Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany

4) U.S. Pat. No. 5,447,650, Sep. 5, 1995, Composition for preventing the accumulation of inorganic deposits on contact lenses, Cafaro, D. P., Santa Ana, Calif.

5) U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,647, Nov. 8, 1994, Compositions and methods for destroying hydrogen peroxide, Cook, J. N., Mission Viejo, Calif., Worsley, J. L., Irvine, Calif.

6) U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,338, 1993, Cascione, A. S., Rapp, H.

7) Patrick Dhaese, “Catalase: An Enzyme with Growing Industrial Potential” CHIMICA OGGIA/Chemistry Today, Jan/Feb, .1996. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A purified protein having an amino acid sequence at least 80% identical to an amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:6 and having catalase activity.
 2. A purified protein having an amino acid sequence at least 80% identical to an amino acid sequence as setforth in SEQ ID NO:8 and having catalase activity.
 3. The purified protein of claim 1, wherein one or more of the amino acid residues of SEQ ID NO:6 are substituted with a conserved amino acid residue.
 4. The purified protein of claim 2, wherein one or more of the amino acid residues of SEQ ID NO:8 are substituted with a conserved amino acid residue.
 5. A method for destroying hydrogen peroxide in a sample comprising contacting a sample suspected of containing hydrogen peroxide with a protein having an amino acid sequence encoded by a polynucleotide as set forth in SEQ ID NO:5 or SEQ ID NO:7, wherein contact of the hydrogen peroxide with the protein results in destruction of the hydrogen peroxide.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the sample is a contact lens cleaning solution.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the sample is a bleaching step in pulp and paper preparation.
 8. The method of claim 5, wherein the sample is a dairy product or a step in the pasteurization of a dairy product.
 9. The method of claim 5, wherein the protein comprises an amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:6 or SEQ ID NO:8. 